Holiday Shopping Season

On the set for Usher's "She Came to Give It to You" video, Nicki Minaj and Drake – like most people would – got a little hungry. So they went to the closest convenience store and picked up some snacks.

The most-recent Small Business Saturday, held at the end of last month, didn't have tremendous success in getting people out to smaller retailers. One possible reason: small business is hard to find in much of the United States.

Now that a second black Barneys customer has come forward to share a tale of racist treatment by the luxury outlet, saying she was "attacked" by cops and accused of credit card fraud after buying a $2,500 designer bag, Jay Z is sharing some of the heat.

On the one hand, ordering most of your household staples from Amazon could decrease congestion and car use, since you're not taking anywhere near as many trips to the store as you used to. On the other, all those Amazon deliveries could just as easily be increasing congestion by putting more UPS trucks on the road.

Stoical types will tell you that the only way to SUI well is to not do it at all, but there are some tips that can help you do it better. Because chances are, you are going to be exposed to a drink and a store, or a drink and your computer and an Internet connection, at some point in the very near future. You might as well be prepared, or as prepared as possible. Follow these rules.

This Monday broke the single-day record for American online shopping, according to comScore. But it's still to soon to tell if that's because we're shopping more in general, or just when the sales (!) are most pronounced.

Heading into what could be third straight year of record-setting sales — and fever-pitched hyperbole — Cyber Monday is still fighting off the fake-holiday accusations. Has it become the Valentine's Day of Christmas? We look at the numbers.